Safety and Driver Assistance Rating:

A Top Safety Pick+ distinction from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gives the RC bragging rights, and newly standard active safety features sweeten the deal.

What’s New for 2018?

Lexus has made its Safety System+ package standard across the RC range for 2018. The suite of features includes automated emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, automatic high-beam headlamps, and adaptive cruise control.

Active Safety Features

2017 Lexus RC

Crash Test Results

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the nonprofit, independent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) evaluate vehicles for crashworthiness in the United States. NHTSA assigns cars an overall rating out of five stars. IIHS uses a different set of tests, grades cars on a scale of Good to Poor, and awards the vehicles that perform best across its tests with Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ honors, the latter of which requires that the subject’s automated forward-collision-braking system performs well.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Test Results

2017 Lexus RC

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Test Results

2017 Lexus RC

Small Overlap

Moderate Overlap

Side Impact

Roof Strength

Head Restraints and Seats

Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+?

Good

Good

Good

Good

Good

Top Safety Pick+

Airbags, Child Seats, and Spare Tire Location

The RC’s rear seat offers two sets of LATCH anchors that are easily accessible behind large fabric panels. We installed a child carrier easily, but there’s so little space in the back seat that it required moving the front seat too far forward to make it fit. As a result, the front-seat passenger space was rendered cramped and too close to the dashboard.

Vehicle Tested: 2017 Lexus RC

Active Safety Features

Lexus offers a limited number of active safety features on the RC, and none are standard fare. Adaptive cruise control and automated emergency braking are bundled together for $500, and front and rear parking sensors add an additional $500. Blind-spot monitoring comes as part of the F Sport package or can be added to non–F Sport RCs via the Premium or Luxury package.

The Best and Others to Consider

The Editors' Rating summarizes a vehicle's overall degree of excellence and is determined by our editors, who evaluate hundreds of vehicles every year and consider numerous factors both objective and subjective.

Price Starting at

$39,440

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The Editors' Rating summarizes a vehicle's overall degree of excellence and is determined by our editors, who evaluate hundreds of vehicles every year and consider numerous factors both objective and subjective.

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